Armored
by Aestivella
Summary: What if Tony had been the one to rescue the Flock instead of Jeb? Will probably contain Fax and Pepperony. Max Ride- AU/Ironman- Movieverse
1. Chapter One

**A/N: **Ironman- Moviverse (pre second movie until I see it and decide otherwise), Max Ride- AU, begins before book one.

As with everyone posting on Fanfiction, I own only the plot.

Money talks. People don't realize how much it talks until they are in possession of a large amount of it. People will do almost anything for money. Actually, people probably would do everything, anything asked of them. For the right price, of course.

Tony Stark, billionaire, superhero, inventor, knew that he could do pretty much anything he wanted. And 'whatever he wanted' included sneaking into the California branch of a rival company to investigate reports of new supersoldiers being developed. It was great fun.

Tony was having a great time. His day was going exactly according to plan. He had located a worker at the company, and had bribed him enough so that he would give Tony his passkey and uniform (which turned out to just be a white lab coat). Then Tony had driven over to the building, located in the middle of the desert, and snuck in without incident. He was free to wander the premises.

Tony didn't really know why he had come, he was just following an instinct. His gut had told him to put destroying his own weapons on hold for a while and investigate Itex. His gut feeling, combined with the rumors he had been hearing, was enough to convince him to go. Besides, he was halving a great time.

And it certainly seemed as if he had made the right choice. Itex was strange. Aside from being in the middle of the desert, the whole place had a creepy sort of feeling, and there were all sorts of strange rooms that had no known purpose. Like a room with a floor covered with heated wire.

Wandering the hallways, Tony's suspicions that Itex was up to something mounted. He was ready to leave but his gut instructed him that he should go down one more long hallway before giving up. There was only one door in the hallway, and Tony pushed it open with some trepidation. The hallway was completely empty, and the door swung open silently.

Tony was shocked at what he saw.

Dog crates, at least twenty of them, sat on the floor, each of them containing at least one…creature? Human? Tony wasn't sure.

Some of them seemed to be human, or mostly human, but some of them seemed to be animals. All of them were the most wretched things Tony Stark had ever seen. And he had seen some bad things.

He walked in the room, shutting the door behind himself and trying not to retch. Some of the creatures in the crates looked at him warily. Some slept. Some panicked. Tony approached one of the crates that had a creature that was watching him.

It was a girl, a human girl, with long, matted brown hair. She wore only a dingy hospital gown, and her eyes looked like she had been crying. Her face was covered with scratches.

"What's your name?" Tony asked gently, crouching down to look her in the eye.

"Don't got one." She spat out, though she seemed to have difficulty finding the words. This was not really surprising to Tony, seeing as she had probably lived her entire life in a dog crate.

"How old are you?" He asked. She held up two hands, both with five fingers spread out. Ten. Tony nodded and turned to the next cage, a larger one that held two boys. One of the boys was holding his hands to his eyes, as if he was in pain.

"What's the matter?" Tony questioned.

"His eyes." Said the other boy, one with black hair, who was watching Tony intensely. "He can not see. Whitecoat tested his eyes." Tony moved to the next cage, but passed by it, as its occupant, a dark skinned girl, was sleeping. The next cage after that held a small boy who sat in the far corner of his crate. The boy did not move when Tony tried to talk to him.

The last crate, the smallest one, held a tiny child, a girl, Tony read on the identification label on her crate. She could barely have been any more than three. Tony stuck his fingers through the bars of her crate. She grabbed his finger and giggled. Tony smiled at her, but hastily withdrew his finger, as he heard voices approaching down the corridor. They passed by, but Tony knew that he had to leave.

"I'm going to come back and get you out of here. I'll set you free." Tony said, though he wasn't sure if they understood him. Tony backed towards the door. "I will, I promise."


	2. Chapter Two

Tony flew home in his Ironman suit, mulling over what he had seen. There was no doubt about it that he had to do something. Months ago, perhaps Tony would not have cared. Perhaps. He probably would have. But now, after his ordeal with the terrorists, it was clear to him that he had to do something.

Secretly, he had a soft spot for children. But he had never had the patience with any one woman long enough to have any of his own. Except for Pepper. He had patience with Pepper, and she certainly had coped with him for so many years.

But he couldn't think about that as he safely navigated a landing in his lab, quickly removing the Ironman suit but leaving the protective 'undergarment' on. As soon as he had completed that, he made his way upstairs, looking around for Pepper.

"Pepper?" He called as he jumped up the stairs.

"Over here." Pepper called from the TV room. Her laptop was on the table, displaying a monthly calendar. Tony walked in, glancing around the room.

"How many guest bedrooms do we have?' Tony asked.

"Two." Pepper said. "Are we having guests?"

"In a manner of speaking." Tony said idly.

"What do you mean by that?" Pepper looked up from the calendar, giving Tony a 'what have you done now' sort of look.

"Well…" Tony started. "You know how I went out today?" Pepper nodded. "And I found some people who need a place to stay. I don't know if two bedrooms are going to be enough…"

"How many people are there?" Pepper asked suspiciously. Tony didn't answer.

"Do I own a van?" He wondered aloud. "I'd need one."

"Yes, we have a van. But could you please tell me just what is going on?" Pepper stood up, putting her hands on her hips. Tony smiled at her.

"A rescue mission." Tony said. "And you're coming." He grabbed her wrist.

"Tony!" Pepper yelled, making a halfhearted attempt at freeing herself.

"Where's that van?" Tony asked, dragging Pepper back down the stairs with him. "Wait a minute, I know where the limo is. We can just take that." He continued pulling Pepper until they reached the limo, a sleek black vehicle.

Pepper positioned herself in front of the driver's side door. "Just what is going on, Tony?" Tony ignored her and started carting pieces of his Ironman suit from his workshop into the area with the limo, ending his journey by depositing them in the trunk. Pepper waited for him to finish.

"Get in." Said Tony. "Come on."

"Tell me what's going on and I will." Insisted Pepper, still blocking the door.

"Like I said, we're going to rescue some children." Tony said, gently pushing Pepper aside and opening the door.

"Children?!" Pepper asked. "What do they need rescuing from?"

"Just get in, Pepper." Tony sighed, and she obliged, sitting down in the passenger's seat. Tony started the limo and drove out of the mansion, driving as fast as he could, blatantly ignoring all speed limits.

"How many children?" Pepper asked, trying a different approach.

"Ah, at least six. Maybe more, I'm not sure." Tony said tersely, focusing on the road. They drove silently for quite a while, though Tony put on the radio after a few minutes. Pepper stared out the window, wondering exactly what was going on.

"Where are we going?"

"Death Valley." Tony replied.

"That's another two hours of driving!" Pepper exclaimed. "It'll be dark before we get there." Tony shrugged.

"I couldn't very well go with just the Ironman. Children can't fly."

The sun crawled down towards the horizon, and though it was summer, the temperature dropped quickly and the wind picked up. After a long drive, Tony and Pepper reached their destination, a place about a mile away from the Itex building, a handy place where Tony had stashed his Ironman suit earlier. Tony parked the limo and got out, opening the door for Pepper, who didn't smile, still rather upset at his lack of explanation.

Pepper yawned and stretched while Tony pulled his Ironman suit out of the trunk and began to put it on. Pepper helped him assemble it after it became clear that he was having a little difficulty.

"I'll be back soon, Pepper." Tony said after he was completely suited up. "Stay here until I get back."

"Sure, Tony. But can you please tell me exactly what's going on?"

"Later. When I get back." Tony said. Pepper sighed.

"Fine. Go." She shooed him off with her hand, and Tony launched himself into the air. Pepper stood back and watched him go.

It was a short flight for Tony, only a mile, and he landed quickly, right in front of the building.

The first thing he did was take the door right off its hinges. Violently. He tossed it behind him and stepped inside. There were very few people there, which was too bad. He had wanted to make a big show. Tony contented himself with punching walls and destroying pretty much everything he could lay his huge metal hands on. Strangely enough, there didn't appear to be any security cameras that he had to bother with. He supposed people who preformed illegal experimentation on humans had to make sure that there wasn't anyone filming anything inside their facility.

Tony made his way towards the room where the children were being held, tossing anyone he met to the side. He reached the room without trouble and took pleasure in ripping the door off. He saw that most of the animal/creature things were cowering in their cages, having been awakened by the noise.

The children looked unsure about what was going on. Tony held up his hands.

"It's OK. I'm the man from earlier. I'm gonna get you out of here." He walked towards the girl's crate. Seeing that it was held with a padlock, he simply ripped the whole front part off, careful not to harm the cage's occupant. He moved over to the crate that held the two boys and did the same thing as the girl crawled out. Tony repeated the process for the other three cages.

The oldest girl quickly rushed over to pick up the smallest child, holding her to her shoulder. Tony looked at the smallest child in shock; there was something on her back. Wings. Too small for her to fly, but undoubtedly wings. He glanced at the others as they came out of the cages. All of them had wings, of various colors and sizes, but all had them.

Tony shrugged it off and returned to opening cages, all of these simply containing odd looking animals. The little girl hopped out of the ten year old's arms, going around the cages, looking at the freed animals, some of which were wandering around the floor. She spotted what appeared to be a small brown bear and wandered over to it. The bear was almost as big as she was, admittedly not very big. She hugged it, and it nuzzled her face. Tony ignored this exchange and continued opening cages.

The youngest boy picked up what looked like a turtle crossed with a lizard. Or, at least it looked to be a cross between those two animals before it spat out a tiny tongue of flame. Tony failed to notice the boy tuck it into his hospital gown.

Tony smashed open a window and lowered most of the animals out to the ground. Either they would live or die, they weren't his problem. He saw the little girl still playing with the bear and didn't have the heart to take it away. He didn't notice the lizardturtle thing. Once all the animals were out, he gestured towards the doorway.

"Come on, we're getting out of here." Tony said, leading the way down the hallway. The children stepped in line behind him. The older girl in front, then the dark haired boy, steering the blind boy by the shoulder. The small girl held hands with the small blonde boy and the bear which lumbered along next to her.

They made it to the end of the hallway before they were attacked. Wolfmen, or what appeared to be wolfmen jumped out of seemingly nowhere. Several were armed with guns. Tony was sure to take those out first, then he dealt with the rest. They were no match for Ironman.

Tony left them all either dead or knocked out, it didn't matter to him, and they all exited the building safely. He considered blowing the place up, but thought better of it.

"Come on, I have a car about a mile away." The children were looking around at their surroundings, enthralled. Tony began walking. The oldest girl stretched out her wings and tried to fly, flapping them weakly. "I think until you get a little stronger you'll have to walk." The girl looked disappointed, but walked quickly.

The young girl and the bear were having trouble keeping up, so Tony scooped them both up in his arms. They covered the distance quickly, though by the end of the mile the walking children were all wincing because of their lack of shoes. The small boy was shivering violently.

"Not much farther now." Tony was actually impressed by them, not one of them had complained once. Finally, the limo was in sight. Tony set the girl and bear down to walk the rest of the way and he jogged ahead to the limo.

He opened the passenger door and shook Pepper gently to wake her up. She jumped up, startled. "What? What's going on?" She asked.

"Pepper, the kids are here." Tony said, backing up so that Pepper could get out of the car. "Be nice to them, and no sudden movements. They're scared. And don't mind the bear; all it cares about is the little girl." The children had all come up to the car.

"Oh my." Said Pepper. Tony began taking off the Ironman suit, tossing the pieces into the trunk of the limo.

"We should probably get out of here." Tony stated, finishing the removal of the suit until he stood next to Pepper in his 'undergarment'. He opened the doors of the limo.

"Here, get in, kids." Pepper said, gesturing towards the open doors. The older girl carefully inspected the limo before giving an almost imperceptible nod. As soon as she gave her approval, the others clambered inside. The two older boys in the front seat, the dark skinned girl and the blonde boy in the middle seat, and the youngest girl, the bear and the oldest girl into the back seat.

Tony shut the doors before he climbed into the driver's seat and Pepper slid into the passenger's seat next to him. He started the engine and turned up the hat in the car to combat the cold desert air. They drove along in silence, but it was not long before Tony heard snoring from the backseats.

"So, are you going to tell me just what is going on?" Pepper asked.

"What would you like to know?"

"What happened to these kids, how did you find them, and what's up with the wings?"

"Well, I had this gut feeling," Pepper glanced at him sideways but he continued, "That I should investigate those rumors of Itex building superweapons. It just didn't sound quite right. So I bribed an employee and snuck in there." He nodded his head backwards towards the receding Itex building. "I found these kids in cages, crates, really. It was awful. The bear, and a bunch of other strange looking animals were there, too. They really can barely talk, even though the oldest one, the girl, is ten. They've probably been in those cages their entire lives. I'm assuming that the wings are part of some wacked out medical experiment. The tall blonde boy is blind, the dark haired one says it's because they tested his eyes. The whole thing makes me sick, Pepper. What else could I have done?" Tony sighed.

"I don't know. But I think you did the right thing. The great Tony Stark, savior of caged children everywhere." Tony laughed a little.

"Pepper Pots, the great woman who'll let herself be dragged halfway across the state without knowing why." She smiled at him as they drove.

"About those guest bedrooms…I don't think we'll have enough room. Oh, and what're we going to do about clothes. And school. If they can't talk, how're they going to deal with reading. And what are we supposed to do with that bear?" Pepper sighed.

"I don't know…They were trying to create supersoldiers over there, maybe the bear is intelligent and can take care of itself." Pepper laughed.

"Keep on dreaming, Tony. I'm sure it's just some sort of genetically modified animal. Probably the best it can do is swim better than normal or something like that."

"You never know, Pepper, you never know."

**A/N:** So, a nice long chapter. Most chapters are probably going to be about this size, not short like the first one. I couldn't figure out really anything to put there. Anyway, reviews are love and constructive crits are greatly appreciated.


	3. Chapter Three

They had a quiet ride home. All the children slept, and Pepper turned on the radio to something quiet and classical.

When they reached the house Tony carried all the children, and the bear, inside and put them in several different rooms. The two guest bedrooms, his room, and the room that Pepper used on occasion. That was only four rooms for six children and a bear, but he put some of them two to a bed. Pepper was surprised that he let them in his bedroom, but it was a pleasant surprise. Since it was too late for her to bother going home, Pepper took the couch and Tony fell asleep in an armchair near her.

Tony woke before anyone else and wandered into the kitchen.

"Jarvis, is there enough food for nine people? Or eight and a bear?" He asked the computer that ran the house.

"No, sir." Jarvis replied.

"Great." Tony said, running a hand through his hair. "Alright, can you get me on the phone with that pizza place that does mornings?" Tony heard a dial tone as Jarvis put the phone on.

Tony ordered four large pizzas, two pepperoni and two cheese. While he waited for them to come, he took a quick shower and put on clean clothes. He had to walk through his bedroom to do so, and found that the noise had awakened the child he had put in his room, the blind boy.

"Hello." Tony said.

"Hello." The boy said back, his head tracking Tony as he moved. It was a little disconcerting, since the boy was blind, but Tony just shrugged it off. "Where am I? Where is my family?" Family. The other children.

"You're in my house. My bedroom, actually. Your family is safe, just in the other rooms." Tony noticed that the boy was still wearing the dingy hospital gown type thing. He rummaged around in his closet, searching for something that the boy could put on. He found a tee shirt and jeans. "Here." He said, placing them on the bottom of the bed. "Put these on."

The boy reached down and picked up the shirt, sliding off the bed to stand up. "What do I do?" He asked.

"Put it on. You know, over your head." The boy took the shirt and attempted to put it on upside down. Tony sighed, and the boy struggled to free himself. Tony yanked the shirt off his head.

"Pepper, could you come here?" Tony called. From the other room he heard Pepper groan but come anyway.

"What is it, Tony?" She asked, looking at the boy who was holding the shirt helplessly.

"Can you help him get dressed?" Tony asked, interrupted by Jarvis announcing that the pizza man had arrived. "I have to go get the pizza."

"What was that voice?" The boy asked, obviously confused. "It came from nowhere."

"Oh," Pepper said, "That's Jarvis, the computer. He's built into the house. What do you need help with?" She asked. The boy held out the shirt and turned toward her pleadingly. Pepper sighed. "You have to take the gown off first."

By the time Tony had gotten the pizza, the children were awake, and Pepper had managed to find them all clothes other than their dirty gowns. Where she had gotten them, Tony hadn't a clue, and none of them fit particularly well, but it was better than what they had been wearing before. Somehow, Pepper had managed to get them all into the kitchen, even though they seemed to be distracted by everything. They stared around with wide eyes as they sat down at the table and Tony put a slice of pizza on each one their plates before sitting down himself and digging into his own pizza. He even gave a slice to the bear, which sat on the floor next to the little girl. It was a little scary how it followed her around.

The children seemed unsure how to eat their pizzas, and Tony demonstrated by picking his up and biting it. After that, they all seemed to be able to do it. Pepper was giving him admonishing looks for serving pizza for breakfast, but he shrugged it off, seeing as the children all seemed to like it. After all, between them the four large pizzas were gone within a half an hour. None of them talked while they ate. They just ate as if they would never eat again.

When they seemed to be slowing down, Tony began asking them questions. "So, none of you have names?" The dark haired boy shook his head, still chomping down on his pizza, perfect teeth glinting in the kitchen light.

"Do you want names?" Pepper asked. The dark skinned girl nodded this time, cheese dripping down her chin. The older girl nudged her gently with her elbow, and she wiped the cheese up with a finger and stuck it into her mouth. "Want us to give you some? At least for now, until you can pick your own?" The smallest boy was nodding, but suddenly he farted, and the stench was awful. He covered his mouth and blushed.

"Jarvis, turn on the fan." Tony coughed, and the others around the table looked various levels of absolutely disgusted. The room cleared out quickly with the fan on, however.

"I think I know what we should call you." Pepper said. "The Gasman. Gazzy, for short." The boy grinned, showing his teeth. He shifted a little in his seat, as if there was something moving in his pocket.

"Yeah. I like it." He said.

"You can be Fang." Pepper pointed at the dark haired boy. "I don't know how you have such perfect teeth." The boy nodded again and returned to his pizza.

"Me next." The dark skinned girl said, putting down her pizza and wiggling in her seat. "I want a name, too." The older girl prodded her again, and she sat still for a moment.

"Nudge." Pepper said decisively. "I was thinking fidget, but I think Nudge is better." Nudge smiled broadly.

"Nudge is a great name. I never had a name before. Do you think I look like a Nudge? I think I do." The older girl prodded her again.

"And you." Pepper looked at the blind boy. "Ignatius. Iggy for short. Don't ask me why. I think it fits."

"Iggy." He said. "Sounds good." Pepper looked at the little girl, who was sitting right next to her. Then she looked at Tony and shrugged.

"Angel." Tony said finally. "Angel for such a beautiful little girl."

"What about my friend?" She said, surprisingly articulate for a three year old who had grown up in a dog crate.

"She can be Celeste." Pepper said. "Celeste and Angel."

"OK." Angel said, picking up Celeste's paw and playing with it.

"What about you?" Tony asked, looking at the oldest girl, completely stumped. "Last but not least…" He trailed off.

"Max." Said Fang, the dark haired boy. "Her name is Maximum." Then he returned to eating, not looking up. Max smiled at him, and it looked as though he winked, though Tony couldn't be sure.

"Alright." Pepper said brightly. "Max it is."

"And I'm gonna call you Firey." Gazzy whispered, seemingly to his slice of pizza, though it was really to the fire breathing turtle/lizard thing he had in his pocket. Tony didn't know this, however, and just dismissed it from his mind.

"My second question." Pepper said. "Can any of you read?" There was a silence around the table.

"Well…" Iggy said. "I _could_. A little. But now I can't."

"Oh." Said Pepper.

"I know some letters." Max said. "And I know numbers."

"I know what all the letters look like, but I don't know what they mean." Fang said. None of the others said anything.

"Well we'll have to fix that, won't we?" Said Pepper brightly, though she looked at Tony in alarm.

"Celeste says she can read." Angel said. "Short words."

"That's nice, Angel." Tony said, absently. "I don't know how to teach kids." Tony whispered to Pepper.

"Do you think I do?" Pepper hissed back, standing up to put dishes into the dishwasher and dumping empty pizza boxes into the trash. "I taught them all how to put on clothes, you get to teach them how to read." Tony winced. None of them had known how to dress themselves?

"Who wants to learn how to read first?" Tony asked the group. Four hands shot up. Max, Fang, Nudge and Gazzy all raised their hands. Angel and Iggy looked rather bored. Iggy especially.

"How about Fang, you can go first. Reading one-oh-one." Tony stood up, and Fang stood up too. "Come on, we can go down to my lab." Tony walked downstairs and Fang followed him, awed by what he saw everywhere. The two sat down at a table, and Tony pulled over a paper and pencil.

"Draw me every letter you can remember." He told Fang.

Several hours later, the two emerged from the lab, Tony looking slightly stunned, and Fang looking rather proud. It had gone much faster than Tony had expected, helped along by the fact that it seemed as though Fang was some sort of genius. It didn't take him long to master writing the alphabet, memorizing the sounds the letters made, and being able to piece together words and decipher them again. Tony figured that he had about as much vocabulary as a first grader, but that was unsurprising. That didn't change the fact that he had learned to read in about three hours.

One by one, Tony took the other three children down to the lab and taught them the basics of reading, writing, and the numeric system. They were all just as good, or better, at learning as Fang had been. Nudge, especially, grasped the concept quickly.

Meanwhile, Pepper was looking after Angel, Celeste, and Iggy. For the most part, Angel sat on the living room floor with Celeste and played patty-cake or some other sort of hand game. Iggy sat on the couch and looked bored. The room was almost completely silent, and it was somewhat awkward. To break the silence, Pepper walked over to the piano that sat in the corner of the room and began to play a simple tune.

She was not much of a pianist, but she had taken lessons as a child and knew some simple pieces. As soon as she started playing, Iggy snapped his head over to 'watch' her.

"Can I try?" He asked, when she had finished the piece.

"Sure." Pepper said, sliding off the bench so he could sit. Even though he was blind, he managed to navigate the room without incident and sit down on the bench. Pepper watched as he rested his hands on the keys for a moment, before dragging his whole hand the length of the keyboard, pressing every key. Then he put his hands back in the middle. His face scrunched up, as if he was trying to remember something.

Then he played the exact same tune that Pepper had just played. Pepper was astonished.

"How did you do that?" She asked, and he shrugged.

"I don't know." He replied, shrugging his shoulders and playing it again.

"Wait right there, I'll be right back." Pepper said, dashing out of the room, reappearing moments later with a CD in her hands. It was called '10 Great Classical Piano Performances'. She put the CD in the player and music filled the room, starting with a piece by Bach. When the song was over, she stopped the player. "Can you play that?" She asked. Iggy shrugged again.

"Maybe."

"Can you try?" Pepper asked. Iggy nodded and began to play, fingers dancing across the piano keys. He duplicated the song almost perfectly, though his fingers slipped a few times on the unfamiliar surface.

"Wow." Said Pepper. "You're good." Iggy smiled at her.

"Thank you. You are, too." Pepper blushed, though Iggy of course could not see it. From the floor, Angel sighed.

"He's not that special. I can do it, too." She said.

"Want to show me?" Asked Pepper. Angel smiled at her sweetly. "Sure. Move, Iggy." Angel and Celeste stood up and walked over to the piano. Pepper noted that Celeste hardly ever seemed to be on all fours, always walking on two legs. Iggy obediently moved off the seat, allowing Angel and Celeste to sit down.

True to her word, Angel duplicated the melody, though she had trouble reaching some keys. Celeste pressed them for her, as if she knew what Angel was thinking. Pepper was a little weirded out by that, but chose to ignore it. Iggy looked mad, probably jealous that Angel and a bear could do the same thing that he could.

Soon enough, though, Angel got tired of the piano and took Celeste over to play with the little robot vacuum cleaner that had wandered into the room, cleaning the carpet. Angel told Celeste to sit on top of it.

Iggy, thinking that everyone was ignoring him again, sat back down at the piano and began to play, apparently making up his own melody. Pepper thought it was beautiful. She smiled at Iggy, but he couldn't see it, and she didn't want to interrupt him. She walked into the kitchen, where she heard Tony bustling around.

Hearing her walk away, Iggy's face fell, though he continued playing.

"Tony," Pepper said. "Both kids AND the bear can play piano. Perfectly."

"Yeah. And it only took about two hours to teach each of them to read. They're insanely bright."

"Yeah."

"Guess those scientists were onto something after all." Tony said, picking up a mug of coffee. Pepper stifled a laugh.

"Yes, genius-level kids with wings and a creepy bear. They had the right idea there." Pepper said sarcastically.

"Celeste isn't creepy!" Angel yelled. "She's my best friend! And she thinks that you should get her more pizza. She likes the kind with the little circles of meat on it."

"No more pizza today." Tony called back. "It isn't healthy. And I don't think bears should be eating pizza anyway." Pepper laughed.

"I'm sure they shouldn't be."

**A/N:** So, new chapter. =DI kind of want to expand the Flock's personalities a bit, seeing as in the books really only Max is focused on. And Angel, too, I guess. But anyway, I always wondered why Angel insisted on buying Celeste when they went to that toy store, and not the ten foot tall stuffed giraffe. I don't blame it on her being 'reasonable' either. Angel is not a reasonable character by any stretch of the imagination. Anyway. Reviews and constructive crits are loved.


	4. Chapter Four

The next morning Tony and Pepper sat down at the table in the kitchen, wondering what they were going to do about the legal side of the situation. What Tony had done, while admirable, was certainly illegal, even though what Itex had been doing was infinitely worse. Still, the legal side of the whole issue was troubling. Tony highly doubted that the children even were officially recognized as existing.

Tony felt certain that Itex had not reported the six children to the government. Pepper was explaining the whole problem to him when they were interrupted by Jarvis informing them that Colonel Rhodes was at the door.

"Jarvis, let him in, tell him to come to the kitchen, but do not let him walk through the living room. I don't want him to see the kids yet. And don't tell him that, either." Tony said. Pepper shrugged.

"Are you going to tell him?"

"Rhodey?" Tony asked. "Of course. I just didn't want him to freak out when he saw them. What did you leave them doing, anyway?"

"I gave Angel and Celeste some paper and crayons, Gazzy and Nudge are watching TV, I told Iggy how to access the music collection, and I believe that Fang and Max are playing checkers." Tony nodded.

"Sounds good." Tony said as Rhodey walked into the room, wearing a tee shirt and jeans.

"Hey, Tony. How's it going?" Rhodey asked.

"Good, good. How are things with you?" Tony stood up and smiled at his friend.

"Things are fine with me."

"Rhodey, I've got something a little weird to tell you." Rhodey frowned.

"What is it? I hope it's not bad. If it is, I am not helping you with whatever- _yes, I know that you're going to ask me for something_." He shot Tony a stern look.

"It's nothing bad. Or at least not that bad. Well, it is, but it isn't my fault." Tony held up his hands defensively. Pepper sighed and wandered out to check on the kids.

"Just tell me." Rhodey said.

"Well," Tony started, "I found these kids. They were being used for medical experimentation. And I brought them home."

"Kids? Medical experimentation? _Found_?" Rhodey said incredulously.

"Yeah. You can tell. Also, they were living in crates when I found them."

"How can you tell?"

"Uh… How do I put this?" Tony said sarcastically. "They have wings! If the cages and lab didn't give you a hint."

"Great." Said Rhodey dryly. "Just absolutely fantastic."

"Do you want to meet them? There are six. And a bear. Don't mind her, she won't do anything." Before Rhodey could say yes or no, Tony called out again. "Pepper, could you bring everyone in here?"

"Sure, Tony." Pepper called from the other room, and sounds of slight confusion soon followed as the children were herded into the room.

"Is it lunch already?" Iggy asked. "I don't smell anything."

"No," Tony said. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet my friend Colonel Rhodes. Rhodey, this is Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, and Celeste." Tony pointed at each of them in turn. Max looked a little suspicious of Rhodey, but the rest of the family smiled at him, and Celeste bared her teeth in what may have been a smile or a threat.

"You're nice." Gazzy said. "Do you do anything exciting?" Rhodey laughed.

"I don't know. What would do consider exciting?" Gazzy shrugged.

"Come here. I want to show you something." Tony watched passively as Gazzy grabbed Rhodey's hand and pulled him into the other room, out of Tony's sight. He pulled his lizard turtle out from his pocket and showed it to Rhodey. "This is Firey." Said Gazzy and pet Firey on his green shell. As if on cue, Firey spat out a little tongue of flame at Rhodey. Rhodey took a quick step back, surprised, but came back forward to investigate. "Do you know what to feed him? I don't know what he wants to eat." Gazzy complained.

"Did you ask Tony?" Rhodey asked him. Gazzy looked a little mollified.

"Tony doesn't know about Firey. AND YOU CAN'T TELL HIM!" Gazzy said, quickly snatching his pet away and tucking it back into his pocket. A pocket that, Rhodey noted, was more than a little scorched.

"Tony let Angel keep Celeste, why would you think he won't let you keep uh…Firey?"

"Angel's cuter than me." Gazzy said sullenly.

"Why don't you just tell Tony. Wouldn't that be easier?" Rhodey tried to cajole the small boy.

"Tell me what?" Tony asked, stepping into the room and leaning against the doorway. Both Rhodey and Gazzy whirled around to face him.

"Uh…nothing." Said Gazzy unconvincingly, guiltily shoving his hands into his pockets. Rhodey shrugged and looked at Gazzy, who frowned.

"Come on." Tony continued, "Hand it over." He approached Gazzy, who had a stubborn look on his face. "I just want to see it." Tony said quietly, holding out his hand.

Reluctantly, Gazzy pulled his pet out of his pocket, putting it in Tony's hand. "I call him Firey." Gazzy said, almost proudly.

"Firey? Why?" Tony asked. Again, Firey blew a tiny jet of flame out of its mouth. Tony stared at it. "Now THAT is cool." Tony said. Firey then proceeded to burn Tony's thumb. "Ouch!" Tony yelped and passed Firey back to Gazzy. "Keep him, but if I find charred furniture, or if you burn the place down, he's gone. And if he burns you, don't come crying to me." Tony grumbled. Happily, Gazzy placed Firey on his shoulder.

"Awesome!"Gazzy pranced out as Angel and Celeste trotted in.

"Hello, Angel, Celeste." Tony said, giving the little blonde girl a smile. "What're you doing?" Rhodey knelt down so that he was level with Angel.

"Hello, Angel." He said. Angel smiled at him.

"Good morning Colonel Rhodes. And Celeste _is_ a real person! Stop thinking that she's not." Angel glared at him and hugged Celeste. "Celeste tells me all sorts of important things. She knows _everything_." Angel almost hissed. "But that's OK. Celeste says you don't need to believe me." She smiled again, took the bear's hand, and trotted off. Rhodey stood up, confusion written across his face.

"That…was one of the strangest conversations I've ever had." Rhodey said.

"…Did she just read your mind?" Tony asked. Rhodey shrugged.

"I did happen to be thinking about…Celeste."

"Well. I certainly didn't know she could read minds." Tony said. "I didn't even know it was possible."

"Maybe it was just a fluke." All of a sudden, Max walked in, a determined look on her face.

"You know how to fly, right?" She asked Rhodey.

"Well, yes." He said. "I know how to fly some pl--"

"Can you teach me? So I can teach my family?" Max pleaded.

"How to fly planes?" Max gave him an exasperated look.

"No. How to _fly_." She said, spreading her wings. They were long and tawny brown, and she was very careful not to knock anything down when she spread them out. She crossed her arms. "So, can you?"

"Uh." Tony said, pausing to think for a moment. "Maybe. I don't know. I doubt that flying a jet is the same as having wings." Max sighed.

"Oh. OK." She folded her wings back in and turned to leave.

"Wait a minute." Rhodey stopped her. "I didn't say I couldn't try." Max whirled back around.

"Really?" Her face lit up happily. "Thank you! I'll go tell Fang." She dashed out. Rhodey shrugged and glanced at Tony.

"I don't know how to teach them to fly." He moped for a moment. "Might as well get this over with. What is it you want from me?" He asked Tony who had been watching him, apparently waiting for him to finish talking to the rapid succession of children and animals.

"Can you get me some sort of cover story? It will look really strange if Tony Stark suddenly has six winged children, not to mention the bear, living in his house. And I know you guys and S.H.I.E.L.D. are really big on cover stories. Also, if you could convince some people to investigate Itex for me…"

"Yeah." Rhodey said. "Not a problem. I can do that. When do you need it by?"

"The sooner the better." Tony admitted. "I can't have these kids around much longer before someone starts noticing. And I DO have public functions to attend, as little as I appreciate it. I can't keep skipping everything." Rhodey looked at him and smirked.

"Alright. I'll see what I can do." At that moment, Nudge and Iggy trotted in, Nudge holding Iggy's hand.

"Hi, Colonel Rhodes." Nudge said. "Max said you're gonna teach us how to fly. I think that's gonna be cool. I'd love to fly. I mean, what else would wings be for? I think it'd be so cool. I wonder how fast I'd go. Do you think I'd go as high as a plane? I hope so." Iggy interrupted her deluge of sound.

"Bye. We're going to see if Nudge can play the piano." Iggy dragged her forward, but not before Nudge began to ramble on some more.

"I don't think I'll be able to do it. I'm not as good at things as you, and Angel can do EVERYTHING. I just don't know. We can see, though. I mean, what if I could? That would be so great. Maybe Max or Fang or Gazzy can do it too. That would be…" They were spared any further detailed explanations of Nudge's thoughts as Iggy dragged her out of the room. After a moment, they heard a simple tune being played on the piano. After a moment of silence, an awful cacophony of sound reached them.

"Am I doing it Iggy?" Nudge yelled over the noise, oblivious to the painful sounds that she was making the piano produce.

"NO! Stop playing it!" Iggy yelled back, and the loud piano noises ceased.

"I guess that answers that question." Rhodey joked. Tony rubbed his head.

"Two of them are musically gifted, well, three if you count Celeste, and one seems to be completely tone deaf." Rhodey sighed. "I wonder what other surprises they have in store.

"Wait a minute." Rhodey said. "The bear is 'musically gifted'?"

"Pepper says she can play the piano as well as Angel and Iggy can. Strange, I know. But there have been enough strange things happening recently that I'm just going to accept it."

"Have any of the others done anything strange?"Rhodey asked.

"Define strange." Tony said flatly. "But seriously, all there seems to be is strange. The six (seven) of them pretty much cleared out four large pizzas in half an hour yesterday morning, and ever since they've been eating me out of house and home. They'll eat absolutely anything and everything. Umm…Max, Fang, Gazzy, and Nudge each learned to read and write in about two hours. Angel seems to be able to read minds. Gazzy has Firey. Celeste, Angel, and Iggy can play piano perfectly. They all have _wings_. Incredible powers of endurance. They all, except for Angel and Celeste, walked about a mile and a half barefoot through the desert at night after just being rescued from dog crates and none of them said a word to complain. Other than that, I don't think I've noticed anything strange about them." Tony said sarcastically.

"Hmmph." Grunted Rhodey in a way that could have meant anything. Just then, Max slid into the room.

"Have you seen Fang?" She asked. "I've been looking for him all the places I know." She had a worried expression on her face.

"Actually," Rhodey said, "He's the only one we haven't seen."

"Where did you look?" Tony asked.

"The bedrooms, the kitchen, the living room, the lab, here, the hallways, the bathrooms." She ticked them off on her fingers. "All the places I know." She said again.

"Maybe he wandered off." Tony suggested. "I'm sure he hasn't gone outside, so he must be in here. Jarvis?" Tony asked.

"Yes, Mr. Stark?" The disembodied voice of Jarvis spoke, and Max jumped a little, still not used to hearing the computer speak.

"Where is Fang?" Tony asked.

"He is at the pool, Sir." Jarvis replied.

"Where is the pool?" Max asked, tugging nervously on her long tee shirt.

"I'll take you to it." Said Tony. "Coming, Rhodey?" He asked. Rhodey nodded, putting a hand on Max's shoulder. Max shifted under his touch, as if she was uncomfortable or unused to people touching her. Noticing this, Rhodey withdrew his hand and let it fall limply to his side.

"We're coming, too," said a voice from behind them. Tony turned to see Angel, Celeste, and Gazzy. Angel had been the one who spoke. Tony shrugged.

"Fine with me." Tony said. "Pepper, I'm taking Max, Gazzy, Angel, and Celeste to the pool to get Fang. Can you keep an eye on Nudge and Iggy?" Tony called into the next room.

"Not a problem." Pepper called back. "What are we going to do about lunch?" She asked.

"Chinese food. Make sure you get a lot of it." Tony had already started walking down the hall, so he couldn't hear Pepper sigh in disapproval. Rhodey and the kids followed him.

They walked down several hallways, each of the children looking around themselves. Max in particular seemed to be memorizing the position of everything. After a minute or so, they reached the pool and entered the steamy room.

It took a moment for them to spot Fang, as he was underwater when they walked in. Tony and Max walked over to the edge of the pool and waited for him to surface, knowing that he would have to come up for air eventually. Rhodey watched Gazzy, Celeste, and Angel as they wandered around the pool. Fang came up to the surface.

"What?" He asked, seeing Max glare at him.

"Why didn't you tell me where you were going?" He shrugged noncommittally. Max scowled and walked away. Tony glanced around and noticed that he had left his shirt and socks (he had no shoes, since Tony didn't have any that would even remotely fit his feet) near the wall, though he was still wearing his shorts.

"Couldn't wait to go swimming, eh?" Tony asked lightly. "Ah, well." He gestured to a shelf on the wall full of towels. "When you get out, dry yourself off. I don't want you tracking water through the house." Fang nodded, but both his and Tony's heads snapped around when they heard Angel shriek. Her long tee-shirt was dripping wet.

"Celeste!" Angel whined. "That was mean!" She stalked over to the little bear who had apparently splashed her. "No, it wasn't funny!" She huffed and tried to shove Celeste into the pool. The bear would not budge.

"Rhodey, Gazzy, help me!" Angel yelled again. Tony, Max and Fang watched this exchange, all smirking a little. Obediently, Rhodey walked over to Angel and made a halfhearted attempt at shoving Celeste into the pool, but Gazzy had other plans and instead joined in with Celeste to splash Angel.

Angel shrieked again in anger, waved her small fist at Gazzy, tried to run over to him, lost her balance, and fell into the deep end of the pool. Immediately, Fang began swimming over to her and Max ran around the pool to be near her, ready to jump in. Celeste, too, jumped into the pool and swam towards Angel.

Celeste grabbed the Angel's tee shirt with her mouth and easily dragged her over to the side where Max was. Max immediately scooped her out and hugged her tight, getting soaked in the process. Celeste wandered over to Tony, who patted her head. "Err…Thanks, Celeste." He said. "Can you go dry yourself off with a towel?" He asked Celeste who was soaking his shoes and pants.

In response, Celeste shook herself like a dog, splattering Tony with water. He grunted. "Thanks so much." Celeste bared her teeth in what seemed to be her smile and walked back over to Angel and Max.

Rhodey and Gazzy were laughing hysterically at Tony, and he glared at him and they tried to stifle their giggles. As soon as he looked away they laughed again. Tony ignored them.

"Well, when everyone gets dried off, we can go get our lunch. I'm sure it's arrived by now." Said Tony.

Meanwhile, Pepper was rifling through the fridge in the kitchen. Iggy was sitting at the table 'watching' her.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Looking around for some _real food_." Pepper sighed. "Man cannot survive on takeout alone." Iggy nodded. "I mean, I'm not a cook, but I'm certain that almost anything would be better than takeout for the sixth meal in a row. Oh, I found some eggs!" She proudly pulled out a carton of twenty four eggs from the fridge.

She wasn't sure why they were there, since no one ever really cooked, and she wasn't sure how long they had been there. But she looked at them and they seemed to be alright. At least, they didn't seem to be toxic.

Happily, Pepper cracked the lot of them into a bowl while putting a pan on the stove to warm up. After that, things went quickly downhill.

Pepper was correct in saying that she was not a cook. Almost immediately, the pan began to burn. Iggy wrinkled his nose at the smell. "What's that smell?" He asked.

"I'm not sure." Said Pepper. "I was wondering that myself." She failed to notice the butter in the pan had completely burned away. "I'm sure it isn't anything bad."

"Hmmm." Iggy said, unconvinced, but not willing to contradict Pepper. Pepper moved to pour the eggs (completely unbeaten and plain) into the pan. She somehow managed to burn her hand on the pan and not get any eggs into it at all. Miraculously, while she jolted back in pain muttering "Owowowowow" under her breath, she didn't spill the eggs all over the floor.

"Are you alright?" Iggy asked, concerned.

"Ahh, no. I burnt my hand." Pepper put the bowl of eggs back sown on the counter, hurrying to stick her hand under cold water. Iggy stood up.

"Here, let me try." Iggy muttered, walking over to the counter and locating the egg bowl. "I didn't hear you stir these." He proceeded to beat them vigorously, and also turned off the stove, which he located as the source of the mystery smell.

"This is too thick." He said, referring to the eggs. "Is there any milk?" He asked. Pepper walked over to the fridge to look, still nursing her injured hand. She brought out a half-gallon, again of questionable freshness. Iggy sniffed it and decided it was safe before he poured some into the bowl. "This'll be awful plain. Do we have any vegetables or meat or seasonings or something?"

"The spices are in the cupboard next to you, but I don't know what you'll find. I think there is some cheese and an onion in the fridge." Pepper replied.

"Good. Could you cut those up for me? Be careful!" Iggy said.

"Alright." Pepper obliged, slicing and grating the ingredients. Iggy gestured for her to dump them in the bowl. Iggy put more butter in the pan and turned it back onto a lower heat. Then he began to cook.

By some miracle, or what Pepper took to be a miracle, he made ten of the most beautiful looking omelets Pepper had ever seen. They were perfect, they smelled delicious. They made her forget about her wounded hand.

As soon as Iggy slid the last omelet off the pan, Rhodey, Max, Tony, Fang, Gazzy, Angel, Celeste, and Nudge all walked in. Though some had damp hair, they were all in dry clothes, and none were dripping all over the floor. Tony considered this a success.

"What happened to Chinese food?" Nudge asked. "I thought we were going to have take out again. I love take out. It's so easy and always smells so good when it arrives and-"

"It isn't healthy. Iggy and I made omelets instead." Tony glanced at her and Iggy skeptically, knowing Pepper's reputation as a chef and the fact that Iggy was blind. Then he glanced at the omelets. They had certainly come from somewhere, and he doubted there was such a thing as 'omelet take out'.

"Omelets aren't a lunch food." Rhodey made a half-hearted protest. He had been looking forward to Chinese food.

"They are now." Pepper said, glaring at him. "Now sit down, all of you. We're going to have a nice meal that didn't come out of a box."

**A/N**: Yay, a new chapter! Sorry you had to wait so long for it, my life has been getting kind of busy lately. I have my Confirmation tomorrow and my AP test on Friday, so I'm a _little_ stressed out. You probably shouldn't expect another update until next week. Anyway, I hope the wait is made up for by the length. Man, this thing is 6 pages long in Word. I couldn't figure out where to end it. XD

Thanks for all the reviews, guys. :D It really does make me happy every time I see a new one.

deathtobella- I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I'm leaning more towards completing at least a substantial portion of the story in mini-form, but I might decide otherwise.

emotionalpoemgirl- Yes, Celeste at least is going to play a large role in the story. :3

As always, reviews and constructive crits are loved. =D


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